


Hand-Me-Downs

by breeisonfire



Series: TAG prompt fics [20]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 09:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13656576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breeisonfire/pseuds/breeisonfire
Summary: preludeinz prompted: "alan vs his brothers' hand me downs"





	Hand-Me-Downs

**Author's Note:**

> I love these boys so much.

There was a rule somewhere that all younger siblings must someday inherit something of their older siblings'. This is especially true for the youngest, and for Alan, multiplied by four.

It's not a money thing. They're lucky enough to be billionaires, and so hand-me-downs aren't necessary. But Alan's the youngest of five, and his older brothers remember days where hand-me-downs were just a part of life, and so the tradition continues. He doesn't mind.

From Scott, he gets things like goggles from when Scott was Alan's age and liked to play pretend. Alan's fortunate enough that he's already a pilot and has been for years, whereas Scott had to wait until he was of age, but he still treasures these goggles. They're on his bookshelf, next to a picture of their mom, also from Scott after one late-night talk where Alan admitted he didn't remember their mom.

He has a few of Scott's old hoodies and shirts, though Scott's always had longer arms than Alan. The pants are too long for him as well, but he still wears them every now and again, on the days he's feeling worn down.

John's different, in that his interests and Alan's interests intertwined. Alan has a bunch of John's old star maps. He's got the first telescope John had been given when he was younger, right next to the one he and John built together when they first moved to the island. He's got more than a few books from John, as well, about stars and game theory and various other subjects.

He also has a stuffed zebra that John gave to him when he was three years old. It had been John's when he was younger, and shortly after their mom died, Alan had been having nightmares. John had done the only thing he'd been able to do at the time. The zebra sits on his bedside table, where Alan can reach it if he ever needs it at night (not that he does anymore) (at least not as often).

Virgil's hand-me-downs are mostly warm shirts and an old wool blanket that their grandmother on their mom's side made their mom when she was pregnant with Virgil. It's the warmest blanket Alan's ever used, and Alan sometimes curls up underneath it when he's had a bad day and blocks out the rest of the world. It's thick enough to feel like a solid wall.

Virgil has also given him paintings, but one in particular has a special place in his heart and his room. Not long after Alan had been born, Virgil had been painting in the living room. Scott had apparently taken Alan to put him down for a nap, and their mom had come in to the living room and ended up helping Virgil finish the painting. It's abstract and nonsensical, bright colors with no real pattern to it, but Virgil had given it to Alan a few years ago, and it hangs up above his TV, where he can always see it.

From Gordon, he gets a multitude of things. When he was younger, Gordon would always bring back seashells or something to that effect from his trips, and Alan has a whole shelf of them, pretty, multicolored things from all over the world. He's got a few more books, about the ocean and biology and the effects of the moon on the tides. He and Gordon are closer to the same size in clothing, so sometimes their clothes end up mixed up, and Alan doesn't really mind wearing Gordon's old pajama pants - they at least fit.

He's also got a scrapbook of Gordon's best pranks, because Gordon thinks he's funny, and a picture of just the two of them the night Gordon won his Olympic medal. The guitar on his wall is also from Gordon, because try as he might he never learned to play, but Alan has, and loves it.

Probably his favorite thing he's been given by Gordon is a hand-me-down hoodie. It's an old NASA hoodie, one that their dad got as a gag gift from his colleagues when he came back from Mars. It had belonged to each of his brothers at one point or another, but Gordon hadn't been quite ready to pass it on when their dad vanished. But one night, Alan had been out by the pool, staring out at the ocean, unable to sleep, and Gordon had wandered out and said, "Come with me."

He'd handed the hoodie right over to Alan, no hesitation. Alan had worn the hoodie for three days straight before he'd had to wash it, and it's still his favorite hoodie. He wears it when it's cool enough, or when he's sick. He wore it after the mission he'd flown around the sun. When they'd returned after losing the TV-21, he'd worn it the entire time Thunderbird Three was being repaired, and only took it off again when he had to go on a mission.

It's strange, but after a bad day, when he's curled up under a blanket from Virgil, wearing pants from Scott and a hoodie from Gordon, and hugging a stuffed zebra from John, he automatically feels better, like he's wearing armor. He'll go to sleep and not dream, and he'll wake up feeling refreshed.

So, he doesn’t really mind hand-me-downs. In fact, he kinda prefers them. He’ll never admit it, but he does. They’re comforting when he comes home and is downright exhausted, and he appreciates them.


End file.
